System, method, and computer program product for updating an inventory of network devices based on an unscheduled event

Abstract

A network inventory system, method, and computer program product are provided. In use, an unscheduled event is identified. In various embodiments, the unscheduled event includes a request to update a network device, a request to update information associated with a network device that is stored in the inventory of network devices, etc. Further, an inventory of network devices is updated based on the unscheduled event.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 receiving at an activation module an error associated with an unscheduled event, where the unscheduled event includes a first activation command sent from the activation module to a network device, and where the error is sent by the network device identified in an inventory of network devices and includes an indication of a failure of the first activation command to activate a port of the network device; 
 updating the inventory of network devices based on the error associated with the unscheduled event, utilizing a processor, by gathering updated port information from the network device and replacing port information associated with the network device that is in the inventory of network devices using the updated port information gathered from the network device; and 
 identifying the updated port information utilizing the updated inventory of network devices, and issuing a second activation command to activate the port of the network device in response to the identification of the updated port information for activating the port. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the unscheduled event includes an on-demand event. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the activation module is separate from the inventory of the network devices. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising notifying a user of the update of the inventory of the network devices. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting a network device view to a user utilizing the updated inventory of the network devices. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the inventory of network devices includes information associated with each of a plurality of network devices, including identifiers that identify the network devices, resources associated with the network devices, configurations of the network devices, applications and an operating system stored on the network devices, and versions of the network devices. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein a reconciliation module other than the activation module initiates the gathering of the updated port information associated with the network device. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the reconciliation module initiates the gathering of the updated port information by sending a discover resource request to a discovery module other than the reconciliation module and the activation module, where the discovery module then issues a discovery command to the network device. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8 , wherein the inventory of network devices is updated with the updated port information received from the network device by the discovery module in response to the discovery command. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the error further indicates that the inventory of network devices does not include current information for the network device. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the error indicates a reason for the failure and a time of the failure. 
     
     
       12. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a computer program product executable by a processor, the computer program product comprising:
 computer code for receiving at an activation module an error associated with an unscheduled event, where the unscheduled event includes a first activation command sent from the activation module to a network device, and where the error is sent by the network device identified in an inventory of network devices and includes an indication of a failure of the first activation command to activate a port of the network device; 
 computer code for updating the inventory of network devices based on the error associated with the unscheduled event, utilizing a processor, by gathering updated port information from the network device and replacing port information associated with the network device that is in the inventory of network devices using the updated port information gathered from the network device; and 
 computer code for identifying the updated port information utilizing the updated inventory of network devices, and issuing a second activation command to activate the port of the network device in response to the identification of the updated port information for activating the port. 
 
     
     
       13. A system, comprising:
 a hardware processor for: 
 receiving at an activation module an error associated with an unscheduled event, where the unscheduled event includes a first activation command sent from the activation module to a network device, and where the error is sent by the network device identified in an inventory of network devices and includes an indication of a failure of the first activation command to activate a port of the network device; 
 updating the inventory of network devices based on the error associated with the unscheduled event, utilizing a processor, by gathering updated port information from the network device and replacing port information associated with the network device that is in the inventory of network devices using the updated port information gathered from the network device; and 
 identifying the updated port information utilizing the updated inventory of network devices, and issuing a second activation command to activate the port of the network device in response to the identification of the updated port information for activating the port. 
 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 13 , further comprising memory coupled to the hardware processor via a bus. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the network device view identifies resources of the network device including the resource of the device requested to be updated and a configuration of the network device.